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Obituaries

George Larry Myers

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Graveside Services for George Larry Myers, 74, will be held at Northeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Rayville, on Friday, September 9, 2022, at 11 a.m. Chaplain Tim Johnson will officiate the service. Interment will be under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home of Ruston. Larry Myers was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Marian S. Myers and Darlene Self Myers. He passed away at his home on September 1, 2022, as he wished, following a decades long battle with heart disease.

Ila Faye Shivor Hood

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Funeral services honoring the life of Ila Faye Shivor Hood of Ruston, will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, September 3, 2022, at Cook Baptist Church in Ruston with Rev. Todd Free and Dr. Joseph Fowler officiating.

Caroline Adelle Semerad

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Caroline Adelle Semerad, of Baton Rouge, passed away unexpectedly on August 9. She was 32 years old. Caroline was born September 15, 1989, in Royal Oak, Michigan, to Lauren Hollingsworth and Jim Semerad, and grew up in Ruston. She was admitted to the Honors Program at Louisiana State University on a full academic scholarship, where she graduated with a B.S. in Psychology. At the time of her death, she had just completed her third semester at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University Nursing School in Baton Rouge, where she felt she had finally found her true calling. The outpouring of grief and kind words from her faculty and fellow students are testament to Caroline’s optimism and commitment to her future as a nurse and the life she was making for herself and her 5-year-old daughter Anna: “I will always remember Caroline’s perseverance, transparency, and her compassion for others, particularly her classmates. She had a drive like no other student I have encountered.”

Bobby Glen Till

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Graveside services for Bobby Glen Till, 85, of Dubach, will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 3, 2022, at Hamilton Cemetery, in Dubach, under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Homes of Ruston.

Christopher ‘Chris’ Heard

Christopher Pryor “Chris” Heard, 68, died of cancer at Alive Hospice in Nashville on August 30, 2022. He was born April 29,1954 in Ruston, to Anne Baker Heard and the late George Taylor Heard. In addition to his mother, he leaves his wife of 26 years, Susan Herbers Heard; stepdaughter, Karen Clabough; sister, Paula Heard Pardue; brothers, Gary and Dennis Heard; and the large extended Herbers family he embraced as his own.

Carolyn Ruth Gafford Crear

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Funeral services for Carolyn Ruth Gafford Crear will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Grambling. She was a long-time pharmacist who worked in many facilities in Lincoln, Union, Ouachita and Claiborne parishes, before retiring in New Orleans. She was born on July 24, 1949, in Union Parish, the fourth of seven children and first daughter born to Ardell and Polly Gafford. Because of her father’s military career, she spent much of her early childhood living across the country and around the world. During her teenage years the family settled back in Union Parish, where Carolyn graduated from Westside High School in 1967. She enrolled in Grambling State University, where she pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and was awarded a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1971.

Dolores Odom Williams

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Funeral services for Dolores Odom Williams will be 10 a. m. Tuesday, August 30, 2022, at Simsboro First Baptist Church in Simsboro with Dr. Matt Endris officiating. Interment will follow at the Simsboro City Cemetery under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston. A visitation will be Monday, August 29, 2022, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston.

Dolores Odom Williams

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Funeral services for Dolores Odom Williams will be 10 a. m. Tuesday, August 30, 2022, at Simsboro First Baptist Church in Simsboro with Dr. Matt Endris officiating. Interment will follow at the Simsboro City Cemetery under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston. A visitation will be Monday, August 29, 2022, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston.

Richard ‘Dick’ Gibbs

Gibbs of Huntsville, Alabama; two daughters, Lizabeth Gibbs Hattaway and husband Paul, of Many, and Kerry Gibbs Ciccone of Baton Rouge; two step-sons, Kevin Plunkett and wife Cindy, of Ruston, and Tony Plunkett and wife Erin, of Bryant; nine grandchildren, James Halk and wife Cristi, Robert Halk, Heath Hattaway, Chase Hattaway, Richard Daniel Nutt and wife Christi, Chelsie Ciccone, Michael Ciccone, Ethan Plunkett, and Emory Plunkett; five great- grandchildren, Leo Nutt, Logan Nutt, Charlie Nutt, Monroe Ciccone, and Julia Halk; very special friends, the Sanchez family of West Monroe and the Collier family of Ruston; and a host of family and friends.

Effie Marie Burgess Hammett

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Lee and husband Johnny of Ruston; granddaughter, Lexie Scriber and husband Jeremy of Minden; and two great grandsons, Luke Scriber and Andrew Scriber; nephews, Fred Baxter and Carl Calvin Thomas Jr.; nieces, Martha White, Janelle Sullivan and Cindy Thomas Bennett.